Electronic sports (also known as eSports or competitive gaming) is a term for organized multiplayer video game competitions. Common video game genres associated with electronic sports include real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter, and battle arena. ESport events can include community-organized gatherings of eSports fans in a bar or restaurant. At a these events, attendees will watch eSports video streams of one another's game-play while enjoying food and socializing with other eSport enthusiasts.
Bars calling themselves “eSports Bars” have arisen. These bars are similar to the traditional sports bars, but instead of broadcasting sports like football and soccer, they broadcast a variety of eSports games instead. Many of these bars also have computers set up to allow customers to play games with each other, and often host in house tournaments as well.
But outside of bars dedicated to eSports, eSporting events are generally organized in an ad-hoc manner, requiring significant time investment by an organizer to prepare the venue, advertise the event, collect entry fees, determine competition winners, and distribute prizes. Venues often lack sufficient network connections for gaming consoles or computer systems used in the competition. While many bars have television, often these bars and other venues lack appropriate audio/video and related equipment, (such as A/V connectors, adaptors, power outlets, power cords, and the like) to display event participant game-play and/or connect to gaming consoles and/or computing systems. In addition, games played by event participants often vary in difficulty (and therefore player outcome varies) because the game may present a different scenario each time the game is played. Such a condition makes it challenging to determine event competition winners or rankings in a fair manner.